THE DAY WE FOUND EACH OTHER

“Why have they not come till now?” Vishal muttered under his breath while dialing the packers and movers for the tenth time.

“It’s already nine-fifteen. I told you to keep a one-day bufferbetween moving the stuff and when we move.” Vanita said as she walked into the bedroom where Vishal sat on the bed.

Vedant, their three-and-a-half-year-old son, lay asleep on the bed beside him.

“And what would we have done for the entire day once the stuff would was gone?” Vishal said irritably.

“We could have gone to a hotel near the airport and spent the night there.” Vanita said.

Placing the heavy cardboard box on the ground, she straightened up, put her hands on her hips and stretched her back. Then she lay down on the other side of the bed next to Vedant.

“I cannot stay in hotels. You know that. I am allergic to them.” Vishal stood up and started pacing, trying to call the packers and movers again.

“Bullshit! Vishal, we have been married for ten years and not once have I seen you have any problem from staying in a hotel. You are just being stingy. Trying to save some money.”

Vishal cancelled the call that he had just placed to the packers and movers and turned towards Vanita with a look of horror that only a husband could conjure.

“Excuse me! Did you forget when I had rashes on my back in Bali?” Vishal shot back.

“That was not from hotels. That was because there were bed bugs in our bed. Even Vedant and I had those rashes. And to be fair to us, please don’t forget it was your brother who booked that hotel for us.

I had told you even then that we should spend the night at a decent hotel but you, being stingy, you never listened. And you do not listen even now. Look where we have landed ourselves with these decisions. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.” Vanita spitefully responded. The pressure of packing everything before the movers arrived was clearly getting the better of her.”

“You…”

CRASH!!!

Even before Vishal could complete his sentence, both of them were taken aback by the loud noise of something breaking.

“WHAT HAPPENED, VIMLA!!! WHAT HAVE YOU BROKEN NOW!!!” Vanita shouted at the top of her voice and got up to see what had happened.

“Shhh!! Vedant is sleeping. Don’t shout so loudly. Keep your voice down.” Vishal hurriedly started patting Vedant so he wouldn’t get up.

Vanita stopped in her tracks and shot Vishal a look so intense and filled with rage that it could burn. Vishal cowered, realizing that this was the moment to shut up.

Without another word, Vanita stormed towards the kitchen, redirecting her rage toward the maid.

“How many times have I told you to handle these fragile things properly?” Vishal could hear her scolding the maid in the kitchen. He gently covered Vedant’s ears and planted a soft, love-filled kiss on his forehead.

“I told you to keep this cloth under the crockery, why…?”

Vishal ignored the loud yelling from the kitchen and tried calling the packers and movers one more time, but the result was the same — no one picked up. And as soon as he disconnected the phone, Vanita barged into the room, still furious, murmuring under her breath. Only then did Vishal realize how tense she was. Taken over by a sudden warm surge of love, he stood up, walked toward her, wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, hoping it would calm her down.

“Kya hai!!!” Vanita’s anger exploded instead of subsiding as she shouted at the top of her voice, pushing Vishal onto the bed.

The sudden noise woke Vedant. The little bundle of soft cotton rubbed his eyes with tiny fingers. Still lost in dreams of milk fountains and chocolate houses, he struggled to tell the soft dream apart from the harsh reality.

“Papa!” he said softly.

“Look what you have done. You have woken him up. Are you happy now?” Vishal said, pulling Vedant close.

“Papa!” Vedant stretched out his arms, asking Vishal to pick him up.

“I woke him up? If only you would have planned things better, he would be sleeping comfortably in his bed in a hotel room.”

“Papa!” Sensing something was wrong, the little boy stood up and wrapped his arms around Vishal’s neck.

But Vishal was still trying to control his anger after what Vanita had said to him.

“Hotel!! Hotel!!! Do you know how expensive a hotel is? Do you think I am a small boy who can’t plan a move?
It’s not my fault these guys decided to be late. Do you know how many packers and movers I called before finalizing them? If they are late, how is that my fault?”

Vishal blurted everything out in a single breath. He was angry and loud, making sure Vanita heard every single word he had to say.

And she did.

But Vanita wasn’t someone who would take it lying down.

“You planned it this way, so it is your fault! And don’t you dare—”

“MAMA…! PAPA…!” Vedant shouted at the top of his voice.

The parents stopped fighting, and for a brief moment, Vishal and Vanita looked at each other, the anger draining from their faces as the weight of what they had just done settled between them.”

Vedant burst into tears and ran toward them. The two of them pulled him close, and all three hugged each other tightly.

For the next ten minutes the Sharma family cried together, hugging and kissing each other.

That was when the packers and movers finally called to ask where they should park the tempo.